removable hard drive

[dcwill]

I have a PXI-8196 controller running Labview RT. My project requirements make it necessary to remove any device in the system that is capable of storing data after each use.  This would require that the controller be removed every time. There are two problems with this. First, the wear and tear on the controller and second the system will be installed in a location that is not readily accessible.

My original solution was to use a PXI extension and a second chassis that is accessible. Then extend the IDE cable so the drive can be installed in a drive bay that is accessible. However, data transfer rates with the PXI exstension are slower and the IDE extension cable does not seem to work with the PXI-8196.

My next solution is to use a "drive" that is read only. The read only drive would contain Labview RT and the project executable. While all the collected data would be stored on a removable firewire drive. Does anybody know if a standard IDE drive can be made to be read only? And if so will Labview RT run from a read only drive?

[DrewPierce]

Hello dcwill,

I am not sure if it is even possible to create a read-only drive and run LV RT from there. I assume you would like to convert the drive to read-only after installing LV RT components on it.

You can save your data to an external hard drive, which is connected through a USB connection (there is no FireWire option on the 8196RT controller). The hard drive will be accessed as the U drive. You can also place your rtexe on the external hard drive and change the corresponding token in the NI-RT.ini file. See this KB about RT tokens.

Hope this helps!

[dcwill]

I have been told that the USB port is not supported by Labview RT. But that was with version 7 and I am using version 8 now. Does v8 support USB? I have plugged in a USB flash drive, formatted to Fat32 and the system can not see it. As drive u or any other letter. I wrote an program to get the drive info for all the drive letters. Only drive c returned without an error.

I have used firewire drives in the past with Labview RT and an added controller, because USB was not supported.

And the info I have seen to create a bootable USB device is for Windows not Labview RT. So if the USB port is supported under LVRT how do I create a LVRT bootable USB flash drive?

[DrewPierce]

Hi dcwill-

You need LabVIEW Real-Time 8.2 for USB support.  Please see the following KnowledgeBase articles:

KB 3YQ8O7TQ: Can I Boot into or Run LabVIEW Real-Time Using a USB Flash Drive?
KB 40MDORS9: LabVIEW Real-Time and USB Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

This should explain the behavior you're experiencing, and what you can do if you upgrade.  Hope it helps!